This invention relates to non-viral gene delivery carriers. More particularly, this invention relates to arginine-conjugated bioreducible poly(disulfide amine) polymers as gene delivery carriers.
Development of non-toxic and efficient gene delivery carriers is one of the most important requirements for gene therapy. So far, numbers of non-viral gene delivery carriers based on lipids and polymers have been developed as alternatives of viral gene delivery carriers. They have advantages such as non-immunogenicity, convenience of handling, and unlimited delivery capacity of genetic materials over viral vectors. J. S. Remy et al., Gene transfer with lipospermines and polyethyleneimines, 30 Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev. 85-95 (1998); F. Liu & L. Huang, Development of non-viral vectors for systemic gene delivery, 78 J. Control. Release 259-266 (2002); D. Luo & W. M. Saltzman, DNA delivery systems, 18 Nat. Biotechnol. 33-37 (2000). Among them, polymeric gene delivery carriers have multi-functional groups modifiable with biofunctional moieties in their backbones. T. G. Park, J. H. Jeong & S. W. Kim, Current status of polymeric gene delivery systems, 58 Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev. 467-486 (2006). Despite the advantages, their applications to human gene therapy have been limited because of their cytotoxicity and unsatisfactory transfection efficiency. S. Y. Wong et al., Polymer systems for gene delivery-past, present, and future, 32 Prog. Polym. Sci. 799-837 (2007).
Thus, while prior non-viral gene delivery systems are known and are generally suitable for their limited purposes, they possess certain inherent deficiencies that detract from their overall utility.
In view of the foregoing, it will be appreciated that providing arginine-conjugated bioreducible poly(disulfide amine) polymers as gene delivery carriers would be a significant advancement in the art.